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Ch9. In the eyes of the enemy.

The moon was high in the sky as the two squads stood in a two line formation in front of the stone arch, the sound of growling could be heard from the huge Hounds that waited patiently to be escorted back to their home world. Captain Frasit was standing in front of the squads talking to both Blafearis and Mrager, giving the info on the situation. The brief was kept short due to the urgency of the situation. When he was done the lion turned around and held up his right arm with a closed fist.

Phillip was in the middle of his squad with Krins right beside him, the cougar looked down at the boy with a smile. ''You going to be ok?'' The anthro asked.

The boy gave a small nod while keeping his eyes ahead of him. ''Y-yeah, just nervious.''

''I know, your arms are trembling.'' The anthro stated.

Phillip took a couple of deep breaths as he waited. ''So this crossing over, what's it like?'' the boy asked as he tried to keep his mind occupied.

The cougar's glanced ahead, ''Just like walking through a door, one moment you're in one room then before you know it you're in a different room.''

''Ok. So what's the emergency that we have to hurry and get to your world?'' the boy asked.

''To be honest I have no clue, we'll be briefed once we get cross and on the move.''

Phillip let out a deep breath when he saw that both the squad leaders returned to their places. The captain looked over to the arch and slowly opened up his paw, as if with the lion's movement a faint blue light started to emit from the center of the arc. When Frasit quickly opened his paw a bright flash of light came from the arch. Phillip shielded his face for a moment but when the light started to dim a bit he slowly lowered his arms to see the lion was facing them. The pressure of the air coming from the arch was blowing through his mane while the captain looked over his troops.

The lion's face turned angry in an instant. ''GO!'' he yelled. With no other encouragement both squads took off into a full sprint towards the arch. Phillip was hesitant at first but with a nudge from behind the boy took off with the group. He ran as fast as he could so he wouldn't get trampled by the anthros behind him. When he got closer to the arch he could feel his heart start to pound faster and faster. The boy found out it was just as the cougar had said. In an instant when he had blinked after he got right underneath the stones he was in an entirely different world.

Phillip didn't stop moving as he looked around, the arch they came out of was attached to a destroyed brick wall, the ground they ran on was hard stone and the air was thick with the smell of decay. The nearby dead trees reached up to a mostly clouded sky. After everyone made it through the gate, the two squads stopped and separated into their own groups. Blafearis walked up to his squad and instructed them to take a knee. Phillip did and saw that everyone was taking off their packs, he did the same. While Blaferis started to talk to the group three of the anthros went through and started to collect the bags while the anthros that had small weapons strapped them on.

"Okay we don't have a lot of time so here's what's going on.'' The wolf said as he looked over his men. ''It seemed that a group of Bragins ambushed squad one while on patrol near by our sector.''

''That doesn't seem that big of a deal to send out two squads though, besides it is squad one. They should handle them.'' A wolf stated.

''That's true but the size they reported shouldn't be taken likely.'' Blaferis said as he looked over at the wolf. "and we haven't had any response from them since the last messenger came in that alerted the captain."

Once both squads were ready and briefed they all got up and started to take off in a jog to their destination. Phillip was still looking at the mostly cold dying land as he kept up with the group. Scrit rushed up and started to jog beside the boy and let out a deep sigh. ''And to think that this place used to be a lot more lively and colorful.''

''Is it because of the Bragins?'' Phillip asked.

The Dalmatian looked down at the ground and nodded. ''It's in their nature to kill, but it's like that their presence here kills the plants and makes the land die.''

"I'm sorry.'' Phillip said as he could feel the pain come from the anthro.

"It's not your fault.'' The Dalmatian said while looking ahead.

....................................

It's been hours since they started to move and the troops were moving on the side of a river, Phillip was now at this point starting to get exhausted. A couple of times the boy almost tripped from dragging his feet, Scrit noticed and was starting to get a little concern.

"You ok?'' He asked.

"Yeah just tired is all.'' The boy answered.

"You want me to give you a lift?''

Phillip looked up and the Dalmatian confused. "What?''

The dog gave the boy a smile. "I can carry you on my back if you'd like. You're going to need every ounce of energy you have for when we fight."

The boy was about to answer when he heard someone yell halt. Everyone stopped instantly while Blaferis came walking by. ''What's going on?" Scrit asked when the wolf was in ear shoot.

"Something's off, so I'm going to talk to Mrager." He replied.

"What do you mean?'' The dog asked.

The wolf just pondered for a bit. ''Well if the information is right we should be at the attack site but it's quiet and there has been no signs of squad one anywhere.''

"I was just wondering that myself.'' They three heard from behind. They all looked to see the Palomino horse walking up to them. "If they were spotted and attacked squad one then we should have seen them or some signs of a fight by now unless...''

"The squad was killed off and they're waiting for another attack.'' Blaferis finished the horse's sentence.

Scrit looked over to the wolf. "Well what do you think we should do?''

"Well if it's a surprise attack then from here on out we'll have to be on our guard and find out what happened to the squad.''

"I'll go and take my men and fall back. If they come and try and attack then maybe my men can make our way behind them." The horse said. The wolf nodded and the three watched the anthro turn and instructed for his men to fall back.

Blaferis looked down at the boy before walking. "Phillip you're with me." Phillip didn't waste time and started to follow the wolf. "I want you to stay by my side at all times. Understand?"

"Yes sir." The boy said.

"Also use me to help make your senses better."

Phillip was a little confused. "Umm, how do I do that?"

The wolf shook his head. "Sorry forgot you haven't done that yet. It's going to be hard but it's basically the same way you read us except that you're working with how we see and hear things and not what we're trying to do."

"Alright I'll try." He drew in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to concentrate on the wolf. The wolf's emotions started to come to the boy naturally but that wasn't helping, he still tried and see how the wolf saw and hear but he wasn't having any luck.

The wolf chuckled while giving the troops the order to start moving again. "Hard isn't it."

"Yeah." The boy laughed.

"Keep trying." The wolf said.

The boy tried and tried again but everything he tried failed. The squad started to move once more to come up to a field. As the open land came into view the troops pace slowed down to a halt as they gazed across the land, Blaferis was the first one to move onto the altered sharped land. The smell of blood hung in the air as the rest started to follow through the land of dead bodies. All the anthros and humans lay motionless as the squad slowly walked among them.

"Sir, s-squad ones..." Blaferis heard as he knelt down to one of the bodies and placed his paw onto it.

"Gradeg!" the wolf yelled, he didn't wait long till the bear came running up to him. "Send a messenger back to base and let them know what we found."

"Yes sir." the bear said before taking off to do as he was told.

"Krins, get me two men up high on lookout, everyone else see if there is any survivors. Phillip stay with me."

Phillip walked back up to the wolf. "Yes sir." Said as he walked up to the wolf, the feeling of hurt and sadness could be felt from the wolf.

Blaferis stood back up and looked around. "I need you to finish your task." The boy gave out a small sigh and went back to work.

Phillip tried numerous times but failed, he thought for a moment to think about how he was going to accomplish this task. Every time he tried to read the wolf all he got was what he was feeling, which was a lot of sadness and uneasiness. The boy tried once more but once again felt the wolf's feelings. The human stopped reading the wolf and was about to give up. "How am I supposed to do this?" The task was starting to frustrate the boy. "Work with the wolf and see and hear how he does." He mumbled to himself. Phillip took one last deep breath and closed his eyes once again concentrated on the wolf but this time instead of reading the wolf he tried to feel how the wolf was feeling and work through him, the boy smiled a little when he opened up his eyes and noticed that the shadows the other anthros were making started to fade and the area was brighten up a little, he tried and concentrate harder and found out that he could hear when someone start to whisper near him.

"You're getting it aren't you?" Blaferis asked, Phillip couldn't help but chuckle and nod. "The longer you practice then the quicker it will be like second nature."

The boy smiled as his eyes could see clearer then he thought. "You always see like this?"

Blaferis walked up beside the boy. "What you're seeing is partial of how we can see, but once you bond you'll be able see our full sight."

Phillip smiled. "How does this work though, it's still confusing."

The wolf smiled but before he could answer Scrit came running up to the wolf. "Sir, there is really no trace of any Bragins at all. Besides the tracks there are no bodies, blood, nothing."

Blaferis nodded. "I noticed. They're still nearby waiting."

The human started to look around the area and seen a bunch of dead trees in the distance, while he looked over the wooded area he heard a faint sound in the distance, the human quickly became alert along Blaferis. "What was that?" Phillip asked a bit louder than what he wanted.

Everyone stopped and fell silent as they looked in the same direction as the two. "I'm not sure." The wolf responded while the other anthros started to move over to them. They all stood waiting when the small sound came again but this time more loudly.

"Sounds like metal." An anthro announced.

Phillip tried his best to look through the trees but even with his advanced sight it was difficult, as he stared he seen something off to the side. "What's that?" The boy pointed.

They all looked over to where the boy pointed out to see something moving just beyond the tree line. Phillip could feel his heart pond in his chest when the creature came out of the woods crawling on all fours. The two big swords clinging together on its back while it moved over the ground. Once it cleared the dead trees and was in the clearing, the creature stood up on its hind legs. Its small dark green eyes looked over the anthros while its jaw opened and closed its sharp teeth together. The boy watched as the anthros all got their weapons into their paws. The pale, hairless skinned creature reached up and gripped its weapons into its claws and drew them out. All the Users got into battle ready stances as the creature let out a load screech before charging at them.

Phillip's body was shaking with fear when he seen how fast the creature was covering the distance to get to them. The bulging muscles moved under the skin of the beast as it charged with the intent to kill. The boy was about to take a step back when he felt a paw on his shoulder and a tug backwards. Phillip looked to see Blaferis step in front of him, with a grunt the wolf swung his right arm upwards.

The human was confused for a little till he sees the ground under the charging creature break apart to make way for a spike made of ice that shoot up and stab through the beast in the chest and sent it flying. The creature landed on its side but quickly got up and continued its charge.

"Damn thing won't stay down." Blaferis mumbled, he reached his hand out towards his ice before motioning it over to the creature. Phillip watched as the ice quickly broke down into small pieces, it flew over and quickly wrapped itself around the creature's neck before hardening once more. Upon command the wolf clenched his fist, the neck of the beast exploded with dark blood as the ice dug itself deep into the skin of the enemy.

"T-that's a Bragin?" Phillip asked.

The wolf was about to answer when his ears perked up and he looked into the distance. Loud screeching could be heard coming over the lands as dust could be seen coming from the over the trees. More and more of the creatures came running out of the woods on all fours before standing up to get their weapons into their claws and charge.

Phillip looked over and seen the different side of the anthros, not the caring and kind but the feral and angered beasts. The anthros had their ears back and bared their teeth as they waited for orders and the attack. Phillip tried and read some of the anthros and all uneasiness and doubt was gone, just the will to fight and kill. "Battle formations, rows one and three are spearmen, two and four are long range." Blafearis yelled. The anthros fell into position instantly. The anthros with spears holding them out waiting for the chance to sink them into the flesh of the enemy. The boy watched as the other two rows of anthro all got onto a knee and had their paws onto the ground.

"Ready!" the wolf yelled, the long ranged anthros hopped up onto their foot paws while still hunched over. "Pull and fire." The wolf commanded. Each anthro lifted up big chunks of the ground and gave it a punch, breaking it into shards and hurling them off into the attacking enemy. Phillip could hear howls of pain and more screeching as the shards fell upon the advancing Bragins "Fire at will." Blaferis ordered. The anthros launched more and more shards into the oncoming enemy but it didn't stop them.

The Bragins were closing in fast when the wolf gave the command to draw weapons, the first row of long range anthros all picked up their weapons and waited to see the creatures clashed into the spears and forced their way through before attacking the enemy themselves. Phillip stood frozen in his spot as he heard the yelling, metal banging up against each other, and the screeching, the boy felt the ground rumble underneath him as dirt flew everywhere.

"Phillip move!" he heard someone yell but didn't act quickly enough, he glanced to the side to see a Bragin tower over him and was about to swing its sword downward. Phillip fell backwards and had closed his eyes waiting for the impact, when he didn't fell it come he looked up to see a wall of ice in front of him that had engulfed the creature's arms.

With a quick tug the Bragin broke the ice easily and let out a hiss as it moved around it and was about to attack. Phillip was scrambling backwards when a howl could be heard, a one moment the creature was standing over him again the next it was being dragged away by its throat by a Hound. The boy was still wondering what happened when he was yanked up and was held close by someone, he looked up and seen Blaferis standing behind him. Blood was dripping down his face as he held his sword up.

"Didn't I say not to freeze up." The wolf growled.

Phillip didn't say anything when a Bragin charged at them, Blaferis held up his sword and blocked an attack but quickly brought his sword back and stabbed it into the creature's chest, with a plop the Bragin fell onto the ground motionless. Blaferis kept making his way backwards away from the battle to get the human to safety. The Bragins were losing more and more men as the fighting continued, when one signaled for them to retreat it was at that moment that the second squad of Users came out from the woods to take the rest of the retreating creatures down.

The wolf let out a sigh when he saw the fighting was almost over, he looked down at the boy to see that he was looking down at the ground. The wolf could feel sadness, failure, and fear come from the human, Blaferis knelt down and turned Phillip around so they were looking into each other's eyes. Tears were coming down the boy's face as the wolf looked at him. Blaferis pulled him into a tight hug and rubbed his paw up and down the boy's back.

"Hey, it's ok." The wolf whispered. "I'm not mad at you or anything." He tried to calm the boy down. "It was your first time and all, it's ok to be scared."

"You weren't." Phillip said as he hugged the wolf back.

"I was." The wolf held the boy out at arm's length. "I was scared that I was going to lose you."

Phillip whipped his face with his arms. "I'm sorry, I won't freeze up like that again."

The wolf smiled and stood up and ruffled the boy's hair. "That's something to work on."

Phillip looked up to see some blood drip off the wolf's fur. "You're hurt?"

"Na, it's not mine." The wolf said as he wiped some of the blood off his face. "How about you go find Krins and see if he needs help." The boy nodded and walked off. Blaferis started to follow the boy back to the squad when Scrit came up to him. "What's the damage?"

"Lot of wounded but only three losses so far." The Dalmatian announced.

"Ok, we'll bury our dead and burn the Bragins." The wolf commanded.

The dog's ears lowered. "But that could take all day."

"Then it looks like we'll be spending the night in this world and return in the morning." The wolf said as he walked off and went to seek out Mrager. "Get Hikrit to start setting up tents back near the river." the wolf called over his shoulder.

..........................................................

After hours of helping put injured Users onto the backs of the Hounds so they could be safely transported to the campsite, Krins gave Phillip the okay to head back to the camp and relax. The boy was starting to walk back when he heard a snort and felt a nudge onto his back. Phillip turned around to see the hound the Users named Scar standing by him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the boy asked with a smile. The hound nuzzled up to the human before laying down low enough so the boy could almost see over its back. "You want me to get on?"

The hound just made a quick look at its back before looking at the human. Phillip smiled as he placed his sword onto his back before moving over and swinging his leg over the beast's back. Slowly the Hound started to walk to the camp, the boy really didn't know what to hold onto so he gripped the fur as best he could and held on tight. The ride made the trip shorter than if the boy would have walked, upon arriving he saw the tents all ready and fires starting. The hound stopped and lay down so the human could get off before giving the boy a lick on the face.

"He really likes you." Phillip heard from behind, he turned to see Blaferis running a towel over his head before laying it over his shoulder. "The river is pretty warm if you want to take a quick bath."

Phillip was scratching the hound behind the ears as its massive head was tucked under his arm. "I would but I got to find out where they put my backpack."

The wolf pointed behind the human. "The green tent, I had them put your things there."

"Thanks." Phillip said before looking back down at the hound and started to scratch underneath Scar's chin with his free hand.

Blaferis started to chuckle before walking past him. "Don't do that for too long."

Phillip looked over at the wolf. "Why?"

The anthro just kept walking before pointing to the side. "You're making them jealous."

Phillip looked over to the tents to see that most of the anthros in view stopped what they were doing to watch the human, some were even let out small whimpers. The boy just chuckled to himself before giving the Hound one last pet on the head before walking off to the tent. Once he opened up the flap and stepped in, the first thing he saw was that Blaferis was slipping off his pants but was looking the opposite direction. Phillip's face turned red as he looked away and tried not to look at the anthro.

The wolf turned around and chuckled. "You that embarrassed? You shower and bath all the time with naked anthros."

Phillip felt more embarrassed and quickly went over to his backpack and grabbed his soap and towel. When the boy turned to leave he stopped and was staring right into the chest of the naked wolf. Phillip froze as the wolf moved his finger under the boy's chin and lifted his face up so they were looking eye to eye.

"If you're that uncomfortable I'll move to a different tent or something." The wolf said quiet enough so no one could hear outside.

"N-No, that's ok I didn't think that you were undressed was all. Just caught me off guard." The human said softly.

"Ok." The wolf leaned down, Phillip was expecting a lick or a nuzzle but was somewhat surprised when the wolf kissed him on the cheek. "Hurry up while the water is still warm before it gets too late."

Phillip quickly rushed down to the river and saw a few anthros still bathing. The boy stripped out of his clothing, grabbed his soap, and waded out till the water was up to his hips. He squeezed some of the soap into his hand before messaging onto his skin, the sound of the running water and splashing was kind of soothing as he blocked out everything else that was going on. After dipping low enough to get the soap off him he stood back up, he put a little more soap into his hand. He started to rub it into his hair with some difficulty since he was using only one hand, as he was rubbing the soap he heard someone moving over to where he was.

"Need some help." Came a soft familiar voice.

Phillip was hesitant at first since he had his eyes closed with soap dripping down his face. "S-sure."

"Ok turn around." Phillip did and felt two paws start to run through his hair and scratch lightly at his scalp. The anthro then took the bottle out of the boy's hands and stepped back. "All good."

Phillip dunked under the water for a little to insure that all the soap had gotten out of his hair before he surfaced to see a smiling Husky standing in front of him. "Husvor?"

The dog nodded before moving back up to the boy and gave him back his bottle. "You look a tad bit surprised."

"Well I kind of am." The boy said.

The husky motioned the boy to follow as he made his way back to the shore. "Oh, so I guess you didn't know that the other squad is squad six." Phillip shook his head. "Well that explains it." Phillip dried off with his towel before slipping on his old paints. After he picked up his stuff he turned to head back but walked right into the arms of the anthro. The dog laid his head on top of the human. "I was actually worried when we had to split up." The dog said as he hugged the human.

"For what?" the boy asked still confused.

Husvor let the boy go and took a step back. "When we split up I was worried that something was going to happen to you. Then when we got word that you guys got attacked by the Bragins my fears just got worst." The dog said as he laid his ears back as stared at the ground.

Phillip stepped up and pulled the dog into a hug. "I was scared, I froze up in the middle of battle and almost got killed if it wasn't for Blaferis."

The anthro hugged the boy back a bit tighter than before. "It's ok, it take a lot of courage to go through what you went through and not be afraid."

The human let the dog go and started to head back up to camp. "I bet the others think I'm a coward now."

"Na, the others understand. You're young and inexperienced." The dog said as he followed the human.

"Yeah, maybe." The boy said as he headed back to his tent to put up his items and change into new clothing.

The meals were cooked and prepared for the troops. Unlike the flavorful food Phillip was used to eating, the meats was dull and dry but since he didn't eat all day and they won't be back till the next day no one wasn't complaining as they all eat till their bellies content.

Phillip was sitting next to the Husky by the fire, the two talking and everyone was laughing and having a good time. The boy rarely went camping so this was a fun time for him even though they had just been in a battle and lost good men.

The boy looked over to the dog and still wondered one thing. "Husvor?"

"Sup." The dog said as he looked over at the human.

"Can I ask you something private?" The dog nodded. "What did Scrit tell you the other day after I left for the room?"

Husvor's ear dropped and he looked away. "I shouldn't say."

"Why not?" the boy asked.

The dog let out a small whimper. "You'll get mad."

"I promise I won't, please tell me."

The dog looked over at the boy and seen how serious he was, with a sigh he looked down at the fire. "If you promise not to get mad or anything."

"I do." The boy said as he gave the dog his full attention.

The husky let out one more breath before continuing. "Scrit told me to back off and stay away from you, he also said that I wasn't going to steal you away from him." The husky looked up to the boy. "He means well he does, he just tends to be over protective sometimes."

Phillip just looked into the fire, the thought of someone talking about him like that really started to get to him. "So he's deciding who I can talk to now?" The boy said in a stern tone.

"No." the husky whimpered. "He was afraid that you'd like me more and not pay much attention to him. I told him we are friends."

The boy just sighed as he stood up. "Yeah, well I think I'm off to bed now. Night."

The husky stood up also. "Phillip please don't be mad."

"I'm not." He said as he gave the dog a hug. "Just disappointed."

After the boy made it to his tent Phillip grabbed his blankets out of his bag and made his bed, the human stripped down into his underwear before lying down underneath his covers. The night was still young, as he looked up at the ceiling of the tent. He could hear blankets move next to him as he assumed was Blaferis.

"Something wrong?" The wolf asked.

The boy didn't answer quickly as he just continued to look upwards. "Yeah just feeling like I'm an object right now and not a person."

"Oh?" the wolf leaned up onto his elbows. "Care to explain?"

Phillip just rolled over so his back was towards the wolf. "Just Scrit told Husvor that the husky wasn't taking me away from him, like I'm a toy or something." Phillip pulled the blankets closer to himself as he buried his face.

The boy heard more movement from behind him, it wasn't long till he felt a draft before it was replaced by the warmth of fur, two arms slid around the boy's torso before drawing the human close. Blaferis's muzzle rested just above the boy's head. "Of course you're not an object, he meant to look out for you. He cares about you as we all do. Sure he should have chosen better words but that's him."

"But he said that Husvor should stay away from me." The boy objected. "Like he's trying to keep me all to himself."

The wolf nuzzled the top of the boy's head. "He's just afraid of losing you."

"That's what Husvor said."

The human could feel the wolf chuckle. "Then that means it must be true if more than one person says it."

Phillip just laid back into the wolf's arms. "I guess you're right but I still don't get why he's afraid that I'd leave him, he's my friend."

Blaferis gave the boy one last lick on his cheek. "Because it has already happened to him before." The wolf said before resting his head back down above the human's and almost instantly fell asleep. Phillip thought about what the wolf said, he knew he would have to talk to the Dalmatian about the situation. After hearing the slow breathing of the wolf, the boy leaned back against the anthro and cuddled up as close as he could before closing his eyes and falling asleep. The thought of all the anthros that care about him flowing through his head and laying in the arms of one of them.

To be continued.....

Well there you have it, CH9. hope you like it. Kind of lost motivation on my writing during the battle all the way to the end. So once again hope you like what I wrote. ^_^